Beaches and surfers define the posh, seafront lifesyle of Herzliya, home to Israel’s first Ritz-Carlton hotel, which includes the brand's first kosher-only kitchen (below). Photo: Sivan Askayo

Photo: Sivan Askayo

On a sunny slice of shoreline a short stroll from the Mediterranean, the future of luxury travel in Israel finally debuted this morning. The setting is Herzliya — one of Israel’s most affluent towns, some 20 minutes north of Tel Aviv, and home to oligarchs, ambassadors and other members of the global economic elite. Here — where sun-kissed surfers catch powerful waves and high-tech firms keep Israel’s economy churning — the venerable Ritz-Carlton chain has opened its 85th property. Built over four years at a cost of $175 million, the Ritz-Carlton is the first international five-star hotel to arrive in the Jewish state in nearly 20 years.

Set behind a Jenga-like facade and rising 12 stories above Herzliya’s yacht-filled marina, the Ritz-Carlton is Israel’s most strident stab at securing its share of the luxury travel market. Although well-known for its Holy Land historic sites and windswept beaches, Israel — from hotels and restaurants to taxis and tour guides — has always fallen short when it comes to world-class service. Established by socialist pioneers and steeped in the communal philosophy of Zionist kibbutz culture, Israelis may be unfailingly warm and hospitable — but charm and refinement have hardly been their forte. How else to explain a national cab culture where drivers often expect passengers to supply directions — and not the other way around.

“Israel isn’t a country with a strong tradition of luxury or service,” says Ritz-Carlton president and COO Herve Humler. “You arrive at a hotel and no one opens your car door or greets you with ‘hello.’ We knew reaching the same standards in Tel Aviv as in New York or Beijing would certainly be a challenge.”

Photo: Sivan Askayo

The Ritz-Carlton comes to Israel at a pivotal point in the nation’s touristic and economic development. Mostly spared from the ravages of the global economic slowdown, relatively free of headline-making terror attacks and packed with a record 3.7 million annual tourists, Israel — despite its domestic and regional political troubles — has never been more popular. New museums in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, an unrivaled trove of iconic Bauhaus architecture and ascendent foodie and nightlife scenes have all made the country popular with the culture and lifestyle travelers who’ve previously favored more conventional — and less conflict-ridden — destinations like Europe or Asia.

But as its visitor numbers surge, Israel’s tourist industry has failed to keep up with demand. Over the past five years, the country has added some 3,900 new hotel rooms — mostly “boutique” hotels, but also luxury properties such as Jerusalem’s Mamilla and Isrotel’s Beresheet desert resort at Mitzpe Ramon. Larger and more full-service, the latter join existing upmarket brands including Hilton, InterContinental and the local Dan chain, whose flagship is the iconic King David Hotel in Jerusalem. Although 5,000 additional rooms are now under construction, Israel is faced with a projected shortfall of 10,000 hotel rooms by 2015, according to recent Ministry of Tourism data. And that shortfall has positioned Israeli hotels as the seventh-most expensive in the world, according to a hotels.com study this fall — pricier in Jerusalem than in London and Milan.

With the Ritz-Carlton’s 115 rooms beginning at $375 per night, the new property — designed by New York-based architecture firm Studio Gaia, the office behind W Hotels in Seoul and Mexico City — will clearly offer little relief for budget travelers. Which is why the company has placed so heavy a premium on solidifying the hotel’s service and design bona fides. The hotel’s key investment has been in staffing, particularly employees (and trainers) from abroad — as polyglot and worldly as Ritz-Carlton’s intended clientele. Both factions were on display last week during the hotel’s “countdown” — the 10-day process at every Ritz-Carlton to prep the property for opening day.

In the case of Ritz-Carlton, Herzliya — which also includes 82 residential apartments starting at roughly $1,000,000 — more than 75 global leaders arrived in an unusually wintry Israel for the hands-on training: Ritz-Carlton, Moscow’s general manager; finance specialists from Portugal; sales folk from London; housekeeping chiefs from the US; residence managers from the Cayman Islands — even a head chef from Oman and a marketing expert from the United Arab Emirates, two Arab nations still lacking formal diplomatic relations with Israel. Also on site was COO Humler himself.

Their charges were equally international — Britons, Americans, Argentines, Brazilians, Moroccans, Mexicans, French, Russians, South Africans and, of course, Israelis. And the staffers’ journeys to hotel employment were often as unlikely as their backgrounds. Along with relying on conventional recruitment fairs, the talent pool was sourced from more cosmopolitan institutions like new-immigrant groups, the nation’s top private university, rival hotel brands and even Israel’s foreign ministry. Israeli-born Director of Housekeeping Tami Shefi, for instance, was lured back home from the Park Hyatt Sydney after more than a decade in Australia; Guest Relations Supervisor Judy Derman spent most of her career running a fashion company in her native South Africa while Dan Levinson — RC’s Director of Loss Prevention — held high-level government and private-sector security positions across North America.

“We literally spent some 10,000 hours interviewing potential employees,” says hotel General Manager Gadi Hassin, a longtime Hyatt Hotels veteran. “Israelis are known for being a bit rough,” he continues. “We are still in the polishing stage.”

The Ritz-Carlton’s mod-designed lobby, which welcomed its first check-ins Tuesday morning.Photo: Sivan Askayo

Beyond the extensive training procedures, opening an Israeli hotel comes with its own set of unique challenges. Among the most unique is cuisine — or, more precisely, creating a kosher culinary program that equally satisfies ancient Jewish law and fickle five-star palates. Chef Jonathan Roshfeld — who helped pioneer Israel’s “nouvelle cuisine” movement — was brought in to oversee the first all-kosher Ritz-Carlton in the company’s 30-year history. Roshfeld’s mod-Levantine menu obviously eschews kosher no-nos such as pork, shellfish and the mixing of milk and meat — focusing instead on southern Mediterranean dishes anchored around vibrant flavors instead of creamy sauces.

Rather than feature cheese-heavy northern Italian pasta dishes, for instance, Roshfeld opted for recipes from Sicily and Sardinia based on tomatoes, olives, olive oils and local fish. In place of ice cream for dessert, he’s developed a sesame-rich “frozen tahini” that evokes the denseness of gelato. And for Friday nights and Saturdays — when ovens must remain dormant to observe the Sabbath — Roshfeld has devised an ultra slow-braised entrecôte that remains service-ready and tender without reheating. For a chef whose previous restaurants serve everything from squid to charcuterie, abiding by kashrut restrictions clearly required a learning curve. “Eighty-five percent of my menu is actually similar to my non-kosher kitchens,” he explains.

As part of the “countdown,” each Roshfeld dish — from dinner to room service — was sampled and served. Also tested was every teak and leather-lined guestroom — which served as temporary sleeping quarters for Ritz-Carlton’s foreign trainers, who checked everything from shower pressure to air conditioning to the in-room espresso machines. And spotted (and sealed) were small leaks resulting from last week’s major Middle Eastern storm — which dumped snow across much of the region for the first time in a century. There were numerous “team-building” exercises — some fun, like a fashion show to present staff uniforms; others mildly cheesy, like the end-of-week “pep rally.” And near round-the-clock “mock scenario” sessions — from greeting guests at curbside to a week of practice facials and massages in the six-room spa.

Photo: Sivan Askayo

Some 50 reservations have been booked for the hotel’s first week — leisure travelers shopping in the adjoining upscale mall, business travelers dealing with Herzliya-based high-tech or natural gas firms and — perhaps — a few curious locals. With a mere 115 rooms to fill, the Ritz-Carlton’s ambitions are relatively modest compared to new five-stars in China and the Persian Gulf, which can easily top 500 rooms. Still, the Ritz-Carlton, Herzliya’s performance will serve as a litmus test, of sorts, for the coming wave of international high-end brands soon to descend upon Israel. Next spring, the venerable Waldorf-Astoria will open near Jerusalem’s Old City with 226 rooms; in historic Jaffa, just south of Tel Aviv, W Hotels is developing a 125-room outpost and Kempinski is opening a 220-room hotel in Tel Aviv itself.

“There is definitely a market for these types of brands in Israel and there’s no reason why the Ritz-Carlton cannot succeed,” says David Gilinksy, Israel travel specialist at Isram Tours in New York. “But they must maintain their luxury standards and not compromise their service,” he adds. “That will be their main risk, that will be their challenge.”